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Bethlehem is a small city in the West Bank, 9 km south of Jerusalem, on the road to Hebron, at the northernmost tip of the Hebron Mountains and on the border of the Judean Desert. It lacks springs or other perennial surface water sources and until late Hellenistic or early Roman times, depended on cisterns. The Hebrew name is Beth Leḥem (“House of Bread”), the Arabic is Bayta Laḥm (“House of Meat”), both names reflecting the fertile nature of its farmland and pastureland in contrast to the nearb…

The Talmud, the central text of rabbinic Judaism, refers to the writings known as the Jerusalem Talmud ( Talmud Yerushalmi), or the Talmud of the Land of Israel, and the Babylonian Talmud ( Talmud Bavli). It is also referred to as the Shas, the Hebrew abbreviation for the six orders ( shisha sedarim) of the Mishnah. The Hebrew Talmud (Aram. Talmuda’) literally means teaching or study. This came to mean the teaching or study of the Oral Law (Halakhah) and legend ( Aggadah), and eventually the Amoraic (Amora) discussion of the Mishnah. The Talmud has two parts: the Mishnah and the Gemara, a word …

The Book of Life ( Biblíon tēs Zōēs) appears a number of times in the New Testament and relates to those who will merit eternal life. In the Old Testament it is one of the “Books of God” (Isa 34:16) and is literally translated as the “Book of the Living” ( Sefer ha-Ḥayyim), although the translation Book of Life is also possible. It is likely that the same book is implied in both languages. The idea of heavenly books draws upon ancient Mesopotamian religion in which the fate of individuals is written on heavenly tablets of the gods. Such heavenly …

Sarepta (Gk Σάρεπτα), also known as Zarephath (Heb. /צרפת ṣārĕfáṯ), was a Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast between Tyre and Sidon (Jos. Ant. 8.320; Pliny Nat. 5.17.76), located near the modern-day Lebanese municipality of Sarafand. Although less famous than other Phoenician cities such as Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, and Arvad, Sarepta is mentioned in Egyptian, Assyrian, Hebrew, and Greek documents which provide a basic framework for the study of the city. The events that took place in Sarepta, according to the Old Tes…

The name Palestine is sometimes used to describe the geographic area of the eastern Mediterranean region comprising parts of modern-day Israel and the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (for geographic usage, see Israel). The present entry will deal with the ancient usage of the term Palestine, although at times it will be necessary for comparison and explanation to juxtapose it with the geographic entity Israel.Palestine reflects the Greek form ( Palaistinē) of biblical peleshet ( Prst/Plst of ancient Egyptian texts; Pilišti/Palaštu of Assyrian sources)…

Judaism is usually defined as the religion of the Jewish people. While this definition may be considered mainstream today, it is not clear that this was the case in the ancient world. The origins of the word are not clear nor what it was at the beginning (Goodman, 2017). Was there one ancient Judaism, or were there many? Were there different views depending on whether one was an insider or an outsider? Thus, what might have seemed like a variety of forms, beliefs, and expressions to the knowledg…

The Land of Israel is more of a geo-historical concept than a defined stretch of land lying within clear geographical boundaries or stable political borders. It is also a land of many names such as, in addition to Israel or Eretz-Israel (“Land of Israel”), Canaan, Judea, the Land of the Hebrews, Zion, the Holy Land, the Sacred Land, Palestine, the Promised Land, the Land of the Deer, or even just the Land (Biger, 1989). The name Israel at first just designated those areas populated by Israelite …

Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (c. 51 BCE–21 CE) was a Roman aristocrat who was appointed legate of Syria after the banishment of the ethnarch Herod Archelaus in 6 CE. Judaea subsequently came under direct Roman rule as Provincia Iudaea. Coponius was appointed as prefect of the new province. According to Flavius Josephus, Quirinius, as legate of Syria, was instructed to carry out a census of the province of Iudaea, signaling the imposition of Roman taxes and the official subordination of that province (Jos. Ant. 17.342–344; 17.354–355). The census at first aroused a great deal o…

Capernaum was a village on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Its name in Hebrew was Kefar Naḥum, that is, the village of Naḥum, if Naḥum was a personal name. There is no reason to connect this Naḥum with the prophet Naḥum. Other possibilities are that the name was derived from the root nhm (“consolation”), and thus village of consolation or from the root n`m, meaning “beauty” and thus the village of beauty. In non-Semitic languages, it is transliterated as one word, usually either as Capharnaum (Kapharnaoum) or Capernaum (Kapernaoum). In Flavius Josep…

Zion (Heb.: ‎ Ṣîyōn; LXX: Σιών; Vg.: Sion) is used for both Jerusalem itself and for different parts of the city. In this latter usage, Zion could refer to the eastern ridge of the city, including the City of David, the ancient citadel of David, the Ophel and Temple Mount, or the western ridge of Jerusalem, including the modern-day Armenian and Jewish Quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem and the modern-day Mount Zion. It can also mean just the Temple Mount or even just the Temple. Occasionally it is u…

The Jerusalem Temples were built on the Temple Mount (Mic 4:1; m. Mid. 1.1–3; 2.1–2). The Temple Mount is a hill located in the present-day Old City of Jerusalem, in the northern portion of a very narrow spur of hill that slopes sharply downward from north to south, rising above the Kidron Valley to the east and Tyropoeon Valley to the west. In Hebrew it is known as Har Ha-Báyit, or “Mount of the House (of God).” This entry will mostly deal with the Jerusalem Temple and Temple Mount of the Herodian period. This was the period of the Jerusalem Temple in its glory,…

Porcius Festus is mentioned only in the writings of Flavius Josephus and the Acts of the Apostles (Acts, Book of). According to available material, he succeeded Marcus Antonius Felix, who had been recalled to Rome by Nero, as procurator of Judaea. When exactly this took place, however, has been a subject of dispute. Josephus and the Acts of the Apostles both agree that Festus followed Felix as procurator of Judaea (Jos. Ant. 20.182; Acts 24:27). It is also certain that the term of Festus was approximately two years, and terminated upon his death and the appointment …

In rabbinic literature different terms were used to denote Torah scholars (Law/Decalogue/Torah). They might be called “sages” ( ḥakhamim), “disciples of sages” ( talmidei ḥakhamin), “sons of sages” ( bene hakhamim), Abba (“father”), or rabbi. Sage was a general term for the generic “wise man” ( sophos) and rabbi was a polite way of addressing a sage or teacher and came to be used as the standard title of a Torah scholar accredited in the rabbinic movement and generally not used before 70 CE (Hezser, 1997). Rabbinic also tradition postulates…

Bethany ( Bethania) is identified with the town of Al-Azariya in the West Bank, on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, and to the east of Jerusalem. The place-name might be derived from Beth Ananiah, a site mentioned in Neh 11:32 and located between Anatoth and Nob to the east of Jerusalem (Murphy-O’Connor, 2013, 86) or from beth ’ani in Hebrew or beth’anya in Aramaic, meaning “house of the poor.” The latter etymology could indicate that Bethany was the site of an almshouse (Capper, 2006, 496–502). The Arabic means “place of Lazarus” (see below).One Bethany or Two?The Gospel of Jo…

The ancient village of Nazareth was located in a small valley in Lower Galilee surrounded by hills on all sides. It was set back from major roads in the vicinity and therefore somewhat secluded. The nearest city was Sepphoris, approximately eight km away. The soil of the Nazareth valley was fertile, the climate was good, and chalkstone provided building material for dwellings and cisterns. There were several springs and wells with the best-known one emerging some 150 m north of what would become Mary’s Well. The ancient village developed some 500 m southwest of that spring.Nazareth is not…